


Demons aren’t always Demonic

by Xx_Chocogirl32_xX



Series: Demons or humans? [1]
Category: Sander Sides
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-02-08 04:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xx_Chocogirl32_xX/pseuds/Xx_Chocogirl32_xX
Summary: Virgil is part animal aka manimal, meaning he’s powerful and considered a threat. Which is why the government decided all manimals are pets or zoo creatures until they are 21. It used to be until death, but there were “human rights” complications. Virgil was taken from his loving parents and stuck in an abusive and rich household, read to find out more...
Relationships: Logicality, Prinxiety, demus - Relationship
Series: Demons or humans? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547668
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	1. The lost one finds his way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DragonSaphira Reads](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=DragonSaphira+Reads).

> Please, if you do not like violence or touchy subjects. DO NOT READ! If you have complaints about the story, KEEP THEM TO YOURSELF AND STOP READING IT IF IT’S SO BAD TO YOU! If you have suggestions on how to write stories better, comment.  
Also, what are the actual categories? I’m guessing M/M is male/male? But I don’t know for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi

##  Chapter 1

Demonic Dunnigan sat on the bed as the newest neighbors passed by his room. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard them all talking in the living room. His owners were always nice to him with company, then again, when there was company, he was the butler. He wasn’t accepted like his adopted younger brother, who was a normal kid. But Demonic had supposedly earned his name. He was a manimal and with that, came certain abilities such as, his ability to heal, his power over time, his increasingly growing strength, and his cat-like agility. He got this from his catty side of the family. His Raven side didn’t give him anything but his big feathery wings. However, since he was a manimal, the governments don’t trust him as a person. Once Virgil became a manimal, he was taken from his parents and put in an auction house as a pet for rich people. It was better than the zoo, in some ways. His brother knew about the wings, and the maid knew about his healing, but no one knew about his time, agility, or strength. Huh, that sounded like a riddle, so cheesy. Plus, he had sworn the two to secrecy, so they only knew about one power each. If he ever got out of here, which he was planning to, he would change his name to Virgil Borane. Virgil, the name he had before he was adopted by the messed-up family. Borane, his true parents’ surname, so that maybe he could find them somehow. Maybe this family wouldn’t care that he left and finally leave him alone to his silence. Except for his brother, the poor kid had such horrible role models as parents, yet he turned out as such a sweet person. Speaking of the poor kid, he entered the room in his usual attire. “They need a butler out there.” Demonic sighed and changed clothes, a butler outfit, everything that was white before is now a deep red, as if it was dried blood. No, it  _ was _ dried blood, some of it was still wet. He would get out of here if it was the last thing he did. He had already whispered to his brother, about his alias when he got out, so that he would be able to find him later. He served them and the guests, then when the guests left he was beaten for everything he supposedly did wrong. He limped to his room and took off the outfit, he checked for all of the injuries. When he was sure his parents weren’t outside his door, he took a deep breath and focused on healing. His eyes glowed yellow, and his cuts closed up, the bruises faded. There was nothing but scars and a bit more blood on his uniform. He put on his normal clothes and flopped onto the bed. The door opened, it was the maid. “How are you doing?” “Good, you?” “Just fine, just a little… accident.” She came into the room to reveal gashes on her arms and small bruises on her neck. “Do you want help with that?” “Please…” “Close the door…” She did as he asked and he came over to her, he sighed and put his hands over the wounds. His eyes glowed yellow, soon there was nothing but scars. “Thanks, I owe you one.” She gave him a hug and left. He felt overwhelmed, affection was scarce here, any of it left him reeling but, happy. He closed the door, and got his knife, he scratched a tally onto the wall. He was going to escape eventually, and he couldn’t wait. His owners hated him, to them he was just a slave to be ordered around. But that didn’t matter, they weren’t even family, his brother was his true family. As long as they took care of him, everything would be fine. He heard the front door close, Miss was going to a meeting. Mister’s footsteps approached his room, he opened the door. He held up a remote with four buttons on it; on, off, higher intensity, lower intensity. Demonic put his hand to his neck, where the shock collar was. “Please, no..” he whispered pleadingly, he always felt as if he would die from this one day. Mister pressed the on button, Demonic grabbed his throat and collapsed. He twitched on the floor, Mister kept turning up the intensity, until he started to spasm and claw at the collar. His father turned down the setting and switched it off. Once Mister was gone, Demonic healed himself and got up. He tried to get off the collar one more time, since it was starting to wear down. It was a painful shock, he started getting used to it but every time, it got worse. After a long while of tugging and zapping, it snapped. He felt a surge of energy that left him feeling amazing and powerful. He grinned, burned the collar, and put his knife into the duffel bag with everything in it. He checked to see if anyone was outside, then he went to the money safe and opened it up, he took half a million, they could do without it since they had almost a billion in the bank. He also took one of the wines from the wine closet. He went out of the window and took off his sweater, revealing his pair of deep purple wings. He flew over land and sea and when he was tired, he would glide and let the air carry him. Much, much later, he was flying above buildings, he landed on top of a skyscraper and gave his wings a rest. After a while he folded his wings into his back as he put on his sweater and walked toward the door. He opened it and started going down the stairs until he saw an elevator that he took the rest of the way down. He walked out of the building and started to wander around. Soon he saw a crowd of people and put on his mask. He walked into the crowd to see what they were looking at, it was a dance competition. “Pretty cool huh?” “I guess, what are they fighting about, other than who’s a better dancer?” “The one with light blue tips in his hair, wants to go to a pet shop to see some cute dogs, his name is Patton. The other one with dark blue tips in his hair, wants to go to a nearby bookstore, his name is Logan.” “What’s your name?” “Roman” “those two your friends?” “Yeah, why are you wearing a mask?” “For cosmetic reasons.” “Oh really? “Yeah… you didn’t dye your hair, I’m guessing.” “Nope.” “Ya got a tan though” “Yes, how did you know?” “I’ve seen a lot of redheads and not a lot of them are tan like you. Your friends are getting tired, Logan is about to quit.” “Oh yeah?” A few seconds later they heard, “I give up!” From Logan, as he collapsed. “You win…” “yay! Time for puppies!” Said Patton, also collapsing and out of breath. “How did you know?” Asked Roman “Me and my brother liked to dance together, sometimes we argue and resolve it through a competition. Dancing or otherwise. I could always tell when one of us was about to give up. It was usually me though, since I had more chores.” “Cool..” Suddenly, Roman seemed to be drifting off, even though he was staring into Virgil’s eyes. “Roman?” “Sorry, you have such strange eyes, I was… observing them. “Alright. I’ll see you around.” “It was a pleasure meeting you.” They shook hands, but Roman shocked his hand. Virgil chalked it up to static and they walked their separate ways. Virgil kept wandering, he went to a bank and converted the money, $555,273 in US cash. He started a bank account there and got a debit card, then kept wandering until he found a hotel. He rented a small room for a few weeks and went upstairs. He went to his room and flopped down on the bed, he immediately went to sleep. He woke up a day later, and started to look for jobs. He didn’t want to work in a hotel, it would be crowded and he wouldn’t be able to keep up. Maybe stocking shelves for a small store would work. It’s not a big operation, small store means small staff means less confusion. And he wouldn’t have to do so much that he’d be exhausted by the time he got back. He set out for the day and stopped by stores with a help wanted sign, until he got a job at a small craft store, stocking shelves. He started immediately and got his first paycheck the week after. He had gotten tired of wearing the same few outfits, he donated the clothes that were too small (and didn’t have holes) to the veterans. He threw out the ones with holes and were too small. He went to the bank and deposited the check. He went to the mall, bought a bag to put the clothes in and went clothes shopping. Once he was done, he stopped by Auntie Annies for a soft pretzel, where he bumped into Patton. “Hello sir! Do I know you?” “I was talking to your friend Roman while you and Logan were having a friendly competition… a while back. Patton right?” “Yeah! Anyways..” “cinnamon pretzel.” “Got it, is that it?” “Strawberry Frozen Lemonade”. “Ok!” Virgil paid, while he waited for his order he was on his phone looking at cheap places to stay and found one with roommates already there, he would split the space, as well as the rent with them. “Oh! Your thinking of joining our tenant house?” “You and who else?” “Roman and Logan!” “On a scale of one to ten, how loud is it?” “I’d say a five.” “I think you’ll see me there in a few weeks maybe.” “Awesome! Here’s your order!” He smirked as he took his order and walked away. He thought about it more, and liked the idea. They were all close, so chances were they would exclude him from a lot of activities. This would keep them safe if his owners did come for him, and it would be a good excuse to avoid them on his more catty days. He was deep in thought while sipping his drink, so he didn’t notice a man around his age with his nose in a book. He bumped into him, but ‘luckily’ no one dropped anything. “Sorry ‘bout that.” “No problem, I would have bumped into someone eventually” “ See you around?” “Yes, I will see you around.” They went their separate ways and continued what they were doing. The few weeks came and went, he went to the house and was greeted at the door by Patton. “Hello! Come in! Is it ok if I call you Kiddo?” “Call me whatever you want.” “Great! Logan is Lo, and Roman is Ro, I’m Pat.” “Ok, so Pat, where do I sleep?” “In here, we got you a bed and a desk!” “How much do I owe you guys?” “Oh no, you don’t have to pay us back!” “You sure? ‘Cause, I will if want me to.” “I’m sure.” “Alright then, thanks.” “It’s fine.” That night, Virgil’s wings got bigger, while the top was a vibrant purple, as you went down the wing the color faded to a pitch black. His eyes glowed different colors, as he summoned fire, water, earth, wind, light, dark, and lightning to his fingertips. This is how his other powers came to as well, before he ran away. He collapsed from exhaustion as he whispered, “not… again…”

## 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bye.


	2. Who am I?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again

Chapter 2

When he woke up a few hours later, his wings were bigger and he felt, unhinged…. like he wasn’t balanced or in control. He realized, his hair was on fire, the fire seemed to glow a deep red. He tried taking the flames from his hair to his hands, but he only succeeded in making the flames brighter. He tried putting it out, it worked. He tried lighting up his hand, the flames floated just above his palms. Somehow they were, purple and blue. He stopped with fire, and tried wind. A breeze came through the room, the wind started to flow around him like a tornado. Clothes and papers flew around the room, he was floating, which scared him since he didn’t know how. He tried to stop it but he couldn’t focus. He calmed himself down, so did the mini-tornado. He breathed in 3 seconds, held it for 7 seconds, breathed out for 8 seconds. It disappeared and everything dropped, Virgil somehow caught everything. He realized he was using the earth powers, and put everything back in its place. He didn’t want to try water yet, he’d wait until after work when no one was around. He tried lightning, his arms and hands crawled with energy and it spread across his body. He felt excited and jittery, he focused on just his hands but he ended up losing it entirely. He would have to work on that one. Before he started on darkness, something caught his eye. It was his life book, he’d been writing in it since he was four and it was what he vented all of his feelings into. He sat on the bed then picked it up and flipped through the pages; songs, pictures, chronicle entries, notes from when Travis taught him things, a few stories and poems. He heard a knock at the door, he hid it under his pillow. The door opened, Roman was in the door, “hey Panic! At the everywhere,” “Really?” “My nickname fits you better. Anyways, we’re going to ‘Tum Tai’ wanna come?” “Nah, I’ll be fine.” “You sure?” “Yeah.” “Alright, we’ll be back in a few hours. See ya.” “Bye.” He heard the door open and close. So he got up, grabbed his headphones and phone, and went to the living room. He put on his dance playlist and Zendaya came on, he danced to it for a while then put his phone and headphones away. He made himself some dinner of his own, ate it, then got in the shower. He started to remember that song from Get Scared “You’ve got me shaking from the the way your talking... My heart is breaking but there’s no use cryin’! What a cyanide surprise you have left for my eyes… If I had common sense I’d cut myself or curl up and die!” He kept singing, while pausing or quieting down if he heard something. When he was done, he wrapped a towel around his waist and made sure no one was watching. He walked to his room and closed the door, got on some pjs and was about to get in bed when the others burst through the door. “Kiddo! We got you a Thai iced tea!” “Hold on, I’m coming” Virgil put on a sweater and mask and pulled up the hood, then went and opened the door. “Here you are!” “Thanks guys… wasn’t necessary though.” “I told you two he wouldn’t care.” “Roman please calm down.” “Yeah, I’ll pay you back. How much was it?” “I didn’t pay for it, Patton did. But I feel like he’s wasting money on you.” “I’m guessing someone owes someone money and they used it to pay for this?” “You are close, Roman paid Patton back for something a while back and Patton used that to pay for the extra drink.” “Yeah makes sense. Thanks for the drink, I’ll get my wallet and pay you back now.” “That’s not necessary Kiddo we can do it in the morning.” “By morning time, I’ll have forgotten and I’m not risking that.” “I just noticed, you sound a lot like Logan sometimes.” He went back in his room looking for his wallet. “Eh. Probably just a habit.” “From what? Were you rich?” “No, I was a butler for a rich family. I quit though, it was… tiring.” He found his wallet and brought it out, “how much do I owe you?” “Five bucks.” “Here.” Virgil handed him the money and tossed his wallet onto his desk from the hallway. “How did you throw it that well?” “Practice.” “That’s what you say every time you do something cool and we ask about how. Are you hiding something?” “No.” Virgil replied a bit too quick, they started getting suspicious. “Why do you always wear hoodies?” “I’m a bit cold-blooded.” “Why do you sit on things that shouldn’t be sat on?” “I don’t know, it’s a habit.” “Why have I never seen your ears?” “Because you haven’t noticed them.” “Why do you always cover your face?” “Because it’s ugly.” “Are you 18?” “I’m 20 years old. But I don’t blame you for thinking that, I’m pretty short.” Virgil glanced at them, and retreated to his room. “Panic! Come on, we’re just curious.” “Curiosity killed the cat.” “Please come back we’re sorry!” “I would like to know why you lied for the first and third question?” “Please! No more questions! I can’t answer all of them.” They stopped, “Kiddo, you left your drink out here.” He opened the door and grabbed the iced tea. “Wait, please? Just answer a few?” “You have until I finish this.” He poked a hole through the seal, took off his mask and started chugging. “Why do you cover up so much?” “Why are your eyes black?” “Why do you have yarn in your room when you don’t knit or crochet?” “How did you chug that down so fast?” Virgil put back on his mask before answering with, “Practice, I like yarn, I don’t know why my eyes are black, and I cover up because I have a lot to cover.” “You were admittedly truthful, but you still dodged the last question.” “It’s a sensitive topic, and It wasn’t a lie. I’m going to brush my teeth and go to sleep.” He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, then went to his room and fell asleep as soon as he got under the sheets. In the morning, Patton was shaking him awake. “Kiddo wake up! There’s a fire and we have to get out!” “Wha- huh? I’m up, I’m up.” Virgil said, covering his mouth with his hand. “Great! It’s time for work.” Virgil put his face into his pillow, “Ugh, I want sleep.” “You slept just fine last night now come on!” “Nnooooooo… pleeaase Patton just five more minutes.” “Nope I’m not gonna let you be late for work.” “Fine, if you leave the room I’ll be out there in five minutes ready to go.” “Alright.” Patton left, Virgil froze time and got ready. Then promptly un froze time and slept for five more minutes. When the five minutes were up, Patton opened the door and yelled, “Kiddo!” “I’m up! I’m coming! Just give me a sec.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and put on his mask. “Thanks for waking me up Pat. I needed it.” “What would you do without me?” “I have absolutely no idea.” He gave Patton a quick hug, grabbed an apple,and ran out the door. The days all went by similarly: Patton would wake him up, he would work and get home, kill some time with a few hobbies, and hide in his room while the others hung out. Sometimes he would join them, it seemed to annoy Roman, Patton liked making new friends, and Logan warmed up to him when they talked about science. Roman started to warm up to Virgil when he caught V singing Shiny under his breath. Virgil would drink some wine a few times a week, but not daily. The others started getting close to him, he wasn’t as concerned as before because if his parents were looking for him, they weren’t going to find him. Especially if it was taking this long. Three months pass by, he’s gotten particularly fond of Roman, Patton seemed like the father figure he never had, and Logan helped him learn about things that he’d missed out on during his isolation. He never told them about his past, or powers, he always made sure they couldn’t see his oddities or scars. He was scared of what they would think or feel, his owners had drilled the words, “you will never be loved if people know what you are…” from the time he grew his ears. It’s stuck in his head and he doesn’t want to risk it being right. After a month, the wine ran out, he recycled it by sneaking past them to the recycling bin and back while time was frozen. He started to talk with them more, and he enjoyed being with them. But he still was a bit closed off and sometimes got scared of what could happen, so he would avoid them. He mentioned his name during truth or dare, since he was tired of Roman’s strange nicknames. It’s two months later, Virgil’s birthday came and he hadn’t told the others about it. But he had seen Patton looking around his room not realizing he was getting back from the shower, so he knew that Patton saw it on his calendar. Which is why he was slightly prepared for the surprise party. There was an ice cream cake, three gifts, and for once Logan was smiling a bit. “Happy Birthday Virgil!” Yelled Patton. “Thanks guys!” “It’s Oreo cake and mint chocolate ice cream. I picked what I thought you might like.” Said Roman. “You should open your gifts and put them away, we can have the cake for desert, or dinner tonight.” Suggested Logan, who needed to get to work for the early shift. “Right.” He opened the present from Logan first, it was a book on robotics. “You checked my browser history didn’t you?” “I wanted to be sure, also, I saw you were a fan of Thomas Sanders, Prinxiety much?” “There was Logicality too.” “Ah yes the Logicality.” Logan blushed at that, Logicality always made him flustered for some reason. “Open mine!” Exclaimed Patton, Virgil did and it was a journal, empty, with his name scrawled in purple pen on the title page. “Thanks Pat! I know just what I’ll use it for.” “Yay!” “I guess I’m last.” “Yep.” He opened it, there was a Toothless plushie wrapped in stuffing paper. “Thanks Roman.” Virgil blushed a bit and held it to his chest, subconsciously signaling the favorite gift. Logan and Patton looked back and forth between Virgil and Roman then exchanged understanding glances, they smirked. They left the room and went to their separate rooms to get ready for work. Virgil and Roman had later shifts so they could afford to take their time. “I’m glad you like it..” “I should put these away, and put the cake in the freezer. Thank you, for all this.” “It’s no problem.” Virgil cleaned up and put away his gifts. The day went along regularly, but the others referred to him as birthday boy for the rest of the day and they had the cake for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bye bye.


	3. Well, that happened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings, the bane of my existence.

The others started to take notice that he always wore sweaters, even when it was hot. It was the middle of summer and they were going through a heat wave. He felt bad that he usually never talked to them even though his owners probably gave up on looking for him. The talks he did partake in were lengthy and fun and they got to know a lot about each other. He had made sure to never talk about his looks, power set, or past. As he was thinking about this, he decided to make them breakfast, since they usually had cereal or leftover take out for breakfast. In the morning, he made waffles, bacon, and eggs. Half of the waffles were chocolate chip. By the time he was done, the others were waking up. Everyone came out and was staring at the platter. “Some of the waffles are chocolate chip.” “NEVER LEAVE US!” Roman shouted, hugging him. “I’m guessing none of you know how to cook…” “stay with us forever…” Said Patton, also hugging him “I’ll try my best. But I plan on teaching you at least the basics.” “Thank you” Said Logan also hugging him. After a while, everyone sat down and ate, Virgil saved his share for later, he didn’t want to flash his teeth just yet. His wings started to hurt, they must’ve been growing again. He needed to free them, to stretch them. But there was no real space in the privacy of his room, and people might see him from outside. He would have to wait until they all went to work, his shift wasn’t until much later so he could afford to wait. “Hey guys! My boss gave me the day off today!” “That’s cool Patton!” “I wish my boss was as nice as yours.” Never mind, he would just freeze time and do it now. He closed his eyes and everything froze, except for him. He got up and took off his sweater, his wings came out, they were longer than last time. He stretched them, the wingspan was at least 10 meters now. He stretched for a few more seconds then went back to his original position at the table, sweater and all. When they were done, everyone went to their rooms. Except Virgil, he scarfed down his breakfast as fast as he could and put back on his mask. He washed the dishes and went back to his room. He heard the front door open and close, a few minutes later, heard the front door open and close again. It was just him and Patton now, he went off to find him and saw him in the kitchen. “Hey Pat, do you wanna do something?” “I wanted to know what you were hiding under all that.” “Under all what?” He dreaded this question, he knew it was hot and regular people wouldn’t have sweaters on with the hood up. “Don’t act ignorant, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” “Well, I just feel cold alright.” He was lying, he was sweltering in that sweater. “You’ll get a heat stroke like that…” suddenly there were two Patton’s holding his arms while another took off his hoodie and mask. “There, that wasn’t so hard.” “Give them back!” Virgil exclaimed while covering his mouth. “Promise not to put them back on?” “I promise I won’t put on the sweater.” “Not good enough, we are in the middle of a heat wave an-d…” Patton noticed the scars and small burns along Virgil’s arms. “What… happened? A-are you ok? Do you...need help?” “No, not anymore, thank you for caring, but I’m fine now…” he realized that he hadn’t covered his mouth for that last bit. Patton looked terrified, Virgil felt disappointed, he had hoped they wouldn’t care but he had been too scared to test it, “I’ll be in my room.” He went to his room and started to cry, his parents were right, no one would ever accept him if they knew what he was. He was a monster, a demon, nothing would change that. He sank deeper and deeper into a hole of emptiness and disappointment as he sobbed. After a few minutes, he wiped his tears and got ready for work. Patton knocked on the door, “can I come in?” Virgil put on a sweater. “Sure.” Patton came in with his sweater and mask, he put them on the bed. “Do you need a hug kiddo?” “N- … Yes..” Patton gave him a big hug, and Virgil broke down. He cried into Patton’s shoulder, as Patton comforted him. “It’s okay, I’m sorry kiddo, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.” Virgil loved every second of this, he never really hung out with the others. Yet here he was, getting a hug from someone he barely knew. Someone purposely made contact with him, to comfort him. It was almost foreign to him, yet here he was. After a while, Virgil calmed down. “It’s fine Pat, you were just looking out for me, and you didn’t know.” They stayed like that for a while, then Virgil pulled away. “I have to get to work, if I don’t get back for dinner then you should probably order pizza.” “Got it.” He left for work, when he was done, he closed up shop and started the walk home. He froze time and flew the rest of the way, landed next to the door and put away his wings. He unfroze time and unlocked the door, walking in. Everyone was at home and gathered around a pizza, joking and laughing. “Hey! V!” Patton waved him over to a seat next to him. “So, I may have let it slip, what I found out earlier. But, since I accidentally showed you what I can do, the others are going to show you they can do!” “Let me guess, they have manimal family so they have super powers or something....” “Yes, powers would be accurate.” Logan proceeded to show him his telekinesis, by taking Virgil’s mask off of his face. “Hey!” “We all know anyways, and you need to take it off to eat.” “I still need it for work, so can ya give it back, please?” “Alright, here.” Roman then started shooting electricity from hand to hand to showcase his power. “So you generate more electricity than regular people?” “What do you mean, ‘more than regular people?’ Regular people don’t generate electricity.” “Your thoughts, memories, sensations, movements, and feelings are either from chemicals, or from electric codes in your brain that are sent throughout your nervous system. So technically all people can make electricity, which is one of the reasons why people get shocked all the time. Also why there’s electro-shock therapy, and why hospitals shock patients who are dying.” “So, I might be able to read minds?” “Yeah, I guess.” Roman put his hand on Virgil’s arm, Virgil thought, ‘next time we order pizza, get a meat lovers.’ When he pulled his hand away, Virgil asked, “What was I thinking?” “That next time we order pizza, to get a meat lovers.” They kept talking about what else there might be to their powers, Virgil didn’t have anything to say so he spaced out. Not only was Virgil happy they accepted him, he finally got some peace of mind. He started to feel tired, he put his head down and fell asleep. When he woke up, he was in his bed, he felt overwhelmed, something warm and cozy was surrounding him. As he became more aware, he realized that he was the little spoon in a cuddle. Then he smelled lavender and pomegranate, those were the essential oils that Roman put in his hair spray. He was curled up on top of Roman’s chest. They were cuddling, and he didn't want to move but Roman woke up. He started to get up except Roman pulled him back. “It’s a holiday, no one has work.” “Are you sure?” “Yep.” Virgil got a text, it was his boss reminding him he had a day off. Virgil put down his phone and went back to cuddling with Roman. “Ro?” “Hm?” “How did this happen?” “After you fell asleep, I carried you back to your room and put you to bed. But you wouldn't let go, then you pulled me into bed with you. I fell asleep after a while, and… you know the rest.” The newly embarrassed Virgil blushed a bit, and noticed his tail was wrapped around Roman’s leg. Virgil unwrapped it and hid it, hoping he didn’t notice. Then, he cuddled a few inches closer… Roman smiled sweetly. “V?” “Hm?” “Why didn’t you talk to us unless you had to, the first few months?” “M-my o-parents were… mean, to put it nicely. When I finally escaped, I was scared that they might come after me. I didn’t want you guys to get hurt in my mess, so I kept away. It’s been a bit more than half a year now, so I figured that it was safe enough to get to know you guys better.” Roman looked at Virgil and gave him a hug, “I’m always here for you… never forget that.” Virgil hugged him back, and soon drifted off. Patton came in and started to shake them awake, “wake up kiddos. Time for food.” Virgil, half asleep said, “tell Travis I’m doing chores.” “Who’s that?” “How drunk are you?” Virgil questioned, still half asleep. “Virgil, who’s Travis?” Virgil came to his senses, “Travis? That’s my brother, was I sleep talking…?” “You cooked for your brother?” “Yeah, it was m-mom’s idea, but she didn’t trust me to make her and dad’s food.” “Wait, you mentioned being drunk?” “I probably thought you were… my dad for sec, he was nicer when he was drunk. Otherwise, dad would’ve gotten out the remote.” “remote?” “Huh?” “Probably, but now I’m going to cook and you all are going to watch. The most I’ll let you do is get ingredients.” Roman starts making offended princely noises, then sees his point and grumbles. “Alright, I’m gonna go to my room.” “I’ll get started, wait is it lunch or brunch?” “Brunch. We skipped breakfast to sleep in and it’s not lunchtime yet.” He made bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches with fruit salad. The day went by uneventfully, they all went to bed and then work the next day. When they got back however, around evening time . They had finished dinner, no one was tired and they were all bored. “I know, truth or dare!” Patton suggested “I’m in” “as am I” “fine. Pat, you go first.” “Logan, truth or dare?” “Dare” “I dare you to kiss your crush.” Logan blushed and walked over to Patton, he kissed his cheek and sat back down. Patton turned into a tomato, and buried his face in his hands. Logan looked at Roman, “Roman, which one?” “Dare.” “I dare you to kiss your crush.” Roman blushed and looked at Virgil, and went over to where he was sitting. He kissed his cheek and whispered into his hoodie, “hope you feel the same.” Before sitting back down. Virgil was about to have a heart attack and his face looked like it had been dyed bright red. He covered his face and made a sound only dogs could hear. “P-Patton, um truth or dare?” “Truth.” “Do you like Logan back?” “Y-Yes. Virgil, which one?” “Truth” “do you like Roman back?” Virgil quietly answered, “m-Maybe.” “I think this is enough for one day. Patton, a talk?” Logan intervened, Roman came over to Virgil on the couch and asked, “you ok?” “N-no.” Virgil put Roman’s hand on his chest so he could feel his heartbeat. Roman did the same, they were both beating rapidly and you could hear it if you were quiet enough. “Guess we're both not okay.” Roman said jokingly, Virgil said quietly, “…I never thought you would like a piece of trash like me, so I didn’t say anything.” “Well as someone who cares about the environment, I am obligated to pick you up. 8:00pm tomorrow okay for you?” “Y-Yeah. Yeah that sounds good…” Virgil blushed even more and was about to pull up his mask to cover it since he wore it around his neck. Roman stopped him, “Virgil, please don’t hide that beautiful face from me. I want to know what you’re feeling when we do things together.” You could practically see hearts in Virgil’s eyes, Roman had all the heartstrings and knew just how to tug them. “A-Alright… goodnight Roman.” Roman kissed his forehead, he whispered “goodnight.” He went to his room,Virgil sat there, redder than a tomato, absolutely frozen.


	4. So This Is Love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More feelings, uggh

He never felt like this, he didn’t know what to do. He walked to his room in a daze, closed the door and flopped onto the bed. He was happy that Roman asked him out, and so cleverly, but he felt something else. He thought this is what his mom meant when she said, “you’ll never feel true love in your life, so be glad you feel any love at all” This must’ve been true love, he was happy and he proved his owners wrong, which made him even happier. He got the Toothless plushie that Roman had gotten for his birthday and hugged it, he treasured the plushie. Virgil tried, but he couldn’t go to sleep, he wanted to go to Dunkin’ Donuts, he was dressed for it anyway. He stopped time, so the others didn’t know. As usual, he stepped out of the wobbling cocoon where he was standing and started walking, but he got curious. What was the cocoon for? He didn’t want to lose anything, just in case. But if he lost his hand he could always regrow it. He stuck his hand through, nothing. He thought it was safe and stuck his foot through, nothing. He stuck his face through, he was in front of Dunkin’ Donuts. He walked through and unfroze time, his hood was up and he had on long jeans. But he still had his mask around his neck, he put it on his face and ordered. He paid and walked out, thought about his room in the apartment, then froze time. He walked through his wobbly cocoon and returned to his apartment, donuts and all. He unfroze time and ate the chocolate, and jelly donuts. He went to brush his teeth, but he heard strange sounds from the bathroom. The shower was on, he heard Patton whisper, “Lo! Your gonna get us caught!” He walked back to his room, screaming in his head. “My ship has sailed.” He whispered to himself, as he closed the door. He changed clothes, grabbed his plushie, and flopped onto his bed. He fell asleep minutes later. When he woke up he got ready for work, had some cereal, and was out the door. When he got back, the shower wasn’t on, there were sounds coming from Patton’s room. He could hear the giggles, the sheets ruffle, their clothes rubbing against each other. He didn’t remember being able to hear this well, he didn’t like it at the moment. He stopped by his room and got some clean clothes. He got in the bathroom, and turned on the shower. As he undressed, he could hear whispers, they were talking so quietly. He wished they talked that quiet all the time, his ears wouldn’t hurt as bad. He got in the shower and washed out his ears, his tail, the rest of him. Then he released his wings, he could feel oil and dirt running off them as the water hit them. He scrubbed a bit at stubborn spots that wouldn’t come off with the water. He maneuvered a bit to get the entire wing, even the tips. He thought how much easier it would be if he told Roman, Logan and Patton took showers together, why couldn’t him and Roman do the same? Then he remembered what he was, a monster, something that was used as pets for the wealthy and kept drugged in cages at the zoo. “Everyday a little death comes and paces the floor, and a little bit more of me dies.” He sang quietly, as he recalled Everyday a Little Death, from The Count of Monte Cristco. He finished in the shower, he kept humming as he dried off, then retracted his wings. As he was getting dressed, there was a knock on the door, it was Roman . “Occupied.” “You okay V?” “Yes why?” “Count of Monte Cristco is a pretty depressing musical at parts…” “... you heard?” “Patton and Logan told me they heard you singing Everyday a Little Death, so I wanted to check on you.” “In that case, tell them I overheard their quality time in Patton’s room.” There was a pause, then Roman said, “they are redder than tomatoes right now, what were they doing?” “I’m gonna go with, making out, to put lightly.” “Got any pics?” “No, I just overheard them, in bed, together, whispering, pausing, whispering again, Patton giggling.” “You have some phenomenal hearing.” “All the better to spy with, dear Ro.” Roman snickered, “You should see their faces right now, they are so embarrassed.” Virgil chuckled and muttered to himself, “shouldn’t have said anything about me singing.” He finished getting dressed and got out of the bathroom. “That was none of your business to talk about!” Exclaimed Logan, a nice pink was spread across his face. “Neither was my singing, If you had kept quiet, I’d have kept quiet as well.” He walked off leaving an embarrassed couple to be teased by Roman before Ro went in the shower. Virgil went in his room, sat on his bed, and picked up the robotics book. He wrote notes down in his journal for later, when he finished the chapter, he put the book aside and reviewed his notes. He turned to the back few pages and began to sketch randomly. After a few minutes, he looked at his work. It was turning out well, he kept going. About half an hour later, he was finished. It was him and Roman, Virgil’s wings enveloping them like a blanket. His ears and tail were showing, Roman whispering into his ear as he played with Virgil’s tail. They were stargazing on a cliff top, you could see the Northern Lights, the Milky Way, and a shooting star. Virgil looked at his art work and checked the time, 7:59, as soon as it turned 8:00, there was a knock on the door. Roman looked slightly neater, but overall the same, just like Virgil. He took his hand and led him out the door. “Where are we going?” “Somewhere romantic.” “Think about the place.” “Alright?” Virgil stopped time, then pulled Roman out of his cocoon. “Where are we?” “The same place we were. Time stopped and your thoughts made a portal.” “What?” Roman looked behind him, he stuck his head through the red cocoon. “They did! Is this you?” “Maybe. Come on!” Virgil went through first, eager to see Roman’s romantic spot. It was about the same spot he drew just a few minutes ago, but it was dusk instead of night. “Do you like it.” “It’s amazing, how did you find this place?” “I got lost on a camping trip, stumbled upon this cliff as I wandered.” “Your a drama geek?” “How’d you know?” Virgil looked in Roman’eyes and let himself get lost in them. He explained how he knew, “I always suspected, it’s like how you guys knew I was Brit without me telling you. The way you talk and carry yourself sort gives off this clue to how you grew up. Logan’s parents are hard on him, they want him to have good grades, be straight, speak well. Basically be perfect, he speaks with articulation, big vocabulary, never shortens his words. He was adamant about having feelings for Patton at first, but his parents aren’t watching him so he went for it. I think he’s American but I’m not sure. Patton’s parents are dream parents, their supportive, upbeat, nice, Greek. So their okay with LGBTQ. You, walk and talk like a drama geek, but you’re worn out. You want a break but you want an opportunity to get to the big leagues. You don’t want to miss a big chance so that you can afford to take a break later on. Your parents are hard on you too, they never let you have a break when you were a kid, that’s one of the reasons your so tired now. Your from Italy, I heard you talking to your parents, rapid fire Italian.” “You can hear that?” “All the better to deduce with my dear.” “Dear is it?” “Yeah,Yeah.” “I underestimated you, I didn’t know I was asking out a Big Bad Sherlock Holmes.” Roman said sweetly as he hugged him from behind. “Oh shush you.” Virgil blushed, holding Roman’s hands. They sat on the ground, watching the sunset as it turned to night. You could see the stars, the Milky Way, and Northern Lights. “Virgil?” “Hm?” “How do feel about me calling you ‘Angelo Gotico’?” “What does it mean?” “Gothic Angel.” Virgil’s heart skipped, for a few seconds he was speechless, no one had ever called him anything close to that. “I-I like it. Thanks” They started walking towards the edge again, Virgil’s hood was still up, but a low branch pulled it off, revealing his unkempt hair that completely covered his ears. “Can I do your hair?” “Maybe another time, right now let’s just talk.” “Too late.” Roman started combing his fingers through his hair, then he found the ears. Roman lifted the hair on either side of his head, no human ears. He exposed his cat ears and styled his hair to show them. “You’re not mad?” “No, why would I be? You were scared about how I’d react. I’m excited to be honest, I’ve kinda wanted to meet a manimal that wasn’t in a cage. Why are they so zoned out?” “Because they’re drugged, heavily.” “Oh.” “Yeah, I guess I can show you the other things.” He let his tail pop out and took off his sweater, tying it around his waist. His wings came out, in all their glory. “Wow… this is, amazing! Has anyone ever done this?” Roman stroked the feathers, Virgil smiled and answered, “no, but it feels… nice” he felt a fuzzy, warm feeling. He purred, softly until Roman started scratching as well, he purred louder. “You got a bit more than the looks from cats huh.” “S-shut up….” he purred again, this time it was his ears being pet. He leaned on Roman, sinking down to the ground with him, wings enveloped around them like a blanket. After a while, Roman started to play with his tail which triggered a strange-ish sound, “mmm, Ro, stop it” “why?” Roman kept playing with his tail, soon the sound gave way to a quiet moan. Roman froze, “oh.” “Yeah, please don’t do that again.” “Alright, if that makes you happy.” He started whispering in his ear softly, his voice was quiet, soothing even. He whispered, “I can’t believe your owners were so stupid to think you deserved to be treated badly. You are molto bello, both inside and out. Do you want to come here more often? Look, there’s a shooting star.” He kept whispering sweet nothings to him, then he noticed something, “I think I found a soft spot...” Roman massaged near the tip of his ear, Virgil sighed wistfully and purred until he fell asleep. A few hours later Roman shook Virgil lightly and whispered, “Angelo Gotico, wake up. We have to go home.” Virgil woke up and wrapped his wings tightly around them and whined, “noooo, can’t we stay a bit longer?” “Why don’t you wanna go back?” “Pat and Lo are probably still mad at me, I have to go to work, and I like cuddling with you.” Virgil noticed his tail had wrapped around Roman’s arm. “Did you do that on purpose?” “No it just happens while I sleep. It happened last time we cuddled, but you didn’t notice.” “Oh really? Why do you think that happened?” “I guess I was just being clingy.” Virgil looked away, blushing. He was always rather clingy to his brother, and there were a few times where they cuddled. But the latchy tail is fairly new and so far, only works for Roman. Roman lifted Virgil’s chin up and toward him, bringing his own face closer as well. Roman whispered, “Are you sure? You look confused.” Virgil smiled and whispered back, “not anymore.” They kissed, they stayed kissing for a few minutes, with occasional breaks. “Alright, we’re going home. Whether you like it or not.” “Not!” “Well, up we go!” “Woah! Put me down!” “You’re so light, I could carry you all day.” “Well if you want a portal home, then put me down!” “Fine.” Roman put him down, Virgil stopped time and got Ro out of his cocoon. The cocoon led home so they went through it. Once the were through, Virgil hid everything and unfroze time, revealing a very worried Patton pacing the floor, and Logan trying to calm him down. When they realized they were home they shouted, “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! You’ve been gone for 5 hours!” “I’m sorry Patton, we lost track of time and I fell asleep.” “Also, we’ve been roomies with Sherlock Holmes! Tell them what you told me!” “I-it’s like how you guys knew I was Brit without me telling you. The way you talk and carry yourself sort gives off this clue to how you grew up.” Virgil repeated, shuffling his feet. “Logan’s parents are hard on him, they want him to have good grades, be straight, speak well. Basically be perfect, he speaks with articulation, big vocabulary, never shortens his words. He was adamant about having feelings for Patton at first, but his parents aren’t watching him so he went for it. I think he’s American but I don’t know for sure. Patton’s parents are dream parents, their supportive, upbeat, nice, Greek. So their okay with LGBTQ. Roman walks and talks like a drama geek, but he’s worn out. He wants a break but he wants an opportunity to get to the big leagues. He doesn’t want to miss a big chance so that he can afford to take a break later on. His parents are hard on him too, they never let him have a break when he was a kid, that’s one of the reasons he’s so tired now. He’s from Italy, I heard him talking to his parents, rapid fire Italian.” “How did you get all of that?” “How you walk and talk.” What do Roman’s strides sound like to you?” “Roman’s strides are strong, labored, proud, heavy.” “Interesting...” “What do my strides sound like?” “Bouncy, light, when you’re tired you shuffle.” “And me?” “Cautious, slow, when you read you go faster.” “Why do you look so, ashamed?” “I-it’s nothing, I’m going to bed.” Virgil went to his room and closed the door, memories came flooding back. He held a sob, and just sat there crying to himself. After a while, he sucked it up and got ready for bed. When he went to sleep, it started out pleasant. Him, Roman, Logan, and Patton were on the couch watching something. All of his aspects were free and he was snuggled up with Roman. There was a knock, Virgil hid himself and Logan answered it. “Hello?” “Hello, we are looking for our missing pet, his name is Demonic Dunnigan.” “There’s no one under that name here.” “Nonsense, he’s right there.” The door opened to reveal his mom, pointing at him. “He’s not your pet, please go away.” “I’ve known my pet for the past 20 years, I know it’s him.” “Please miss, can you leave? This is movie night.” “Oh really? Well then…” she took off his hood and started pulling him by his ears. He cut off her hand, using his claws. “You demon!” “This demon is done playing your games.” His father shot his friends, his mom took out a knife, “come on Demonic! You know want to wreak some havoc before you go to hell!” Virgil looked at his dead friends, he took the knife and stabbed his chest. He took it out, and did it again and again and again, until he collapsed. Everything went dark, he heard his owners voices, echoing through his head. “Waste of air, Demon child! Freak of nature! No one will ever care more than us.” He woke up in tears, sobbing. He curled up and wrapped his wings around himself, still sobbing. He heard Roman come in, “what’s wrong Angelo Gotico?” “We were all dead.” “Sh, shh. It’s okay now I’m here. Nothing happened, it was just a dream.” “M-my owners, they, they” Virgil broke into sobs, they were muffled by Roman’s broad chest. “Shh, shhhhhhh, it’s okay. Calm down, nothing happened.” He spoke in his soothing whisper as he stroked Virgil’s wings. Virgil started to calm down, he squeezed Roman to stay as close to him as possible. Roman started to hum into Virgil’s ear. Virgil remembered something, from before his sharp teeth came in and his ears shifted. He didn’t have a tail yet, so he wasn’t a manimal yet. His catty mom was still with him, his raven father was looking lovingly from behind her. She was humming a similar tune and kissed her husband before wishing them goodnight. Virgil calmed down, then fell asleep in Roman’s arms. When he woke up, his wings covered them like blankets, his tail was wrapped around Roman’s leg, and his ears were pressed against Roman’s chest. He was partially curled up next to Roman, with their arms wrapped around each other. Roman woke up, “morning Angelo. How’d you sleep?” “I slept well, thanks for that.” “Hey kiddos wake up…” As Patton walked in and saw Virgil’s animal aspects, Virgil desperately grasped at any non-magical explanation. “It was a dare!” Roman blurted out before Patton got the real answer. “The snuggle or the… outfit.” “Outfit. Snuggle was to help me sleep.” “Aww, Alright I’ll leave you two be.” “No, it’s fine, we have to get to work. Right?” “Yeah… I’ma go to my room.” “You need help with that costume?” “Na, I got it.” Patton left the room, and Virgil concealed himself. He got ready for work, and went to the kitchen. “So what do you guys want for breakfast?” “We already ate.” “I’m eating cereal.” “Great! I’m having a sandwich.” “Were you crying last night?” Asked Logan, he was reading as usual. “Yeah, I was worried.” “It was a nightmare, I got scared.” He said to the others, but mostly to himself. “What happened that was so scary?” Logan said as he looked up from his book. “My mom and dad were trying to haul me back home, I resisted so they… killed you guys and were about to kill me too. But I killed myself first. Everything went dark, and I woke up.” The room was silent, Patton came over and gave Virgil a hug. Virgil’s breathing and hands were shaky, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.” “No, you did the right thing, this is the type of thing you should tell us about.” “Patton is right, sharing these things lessens the burden.” “Thanks guys, I needed this.” “While on the topic of you, why did you seem so ashamed when demonstrating your deductive reasoning?” “I just overhear things and put the pieces together.” “Yes but how did you get it so accurately?” “Practice. My o-parents always had guests over at least once a day, so I tried to find info on the outside world through them. Since the closest I’d ever been to being outside was the green house. It took a few years but I got the hang of it. Then of course, there’s the conversations they had.” “So that’s why you coped so well when came out for the first time.” “Yeah pretty much.” “But that does not explain why you were ashamed of it.” “My parents learned about it and my hearing, probably because of something I said, and they started being a lot louder. At first it was when they were doing, disturbing, things. Then it escalated to earaches.” “Is that why you asked how loud it was when I caught you looking at our house on your phone?” “Yeah.” “I’m guessing it has something to do with your ears looking the way they do.” “You’ve seen his ears?” “Yeah I was doing his hair, since it was an absolute mess.” “Geez, you don’t have to rub it in.” “I would like to see what Roman is talking about when he says, ‘looking the way they do’.” Virgil averted his eyes and took off his hood, letting his ears pop up.” Patton looked at the ears, and gave a big grin, “oh. My. God. They’re so cute! Can I pet them?” “Uh.. sure?” Patton started petting Virgil’s head and scratching behind his ears. Virgil’s ears twitched as he purred softly, he had this relaxed, happy face that was sort of cute on him. Roman and Patton exclaimed, “aaawwwwww” in unison, Virgil replied between purrs, “okay… I thin… think that’s… enough.” Patton stopped as he whined out, “Just a few more minutes?” “You have to get to work, and I need something to eat.” “If you have those ears, then you have a tail as well. Correct?” “Correct. Now leave me to make my food.” “But I wanna see your tail!” “After work.” “Alright, see you guys later.” Patton left and Virgil started making his sandwich, Roman watched the egg while Virgil started the bacon, got out the cheese and put the bread in the toaster. “Thanks.” Virgil said as he took the egg off the stove, flipped the bacon and put the cheese on the egg. The toast popped up and he put the egg, cheese up, then the bacon, and topped it off with ketchup and the other piece of bread. “Well that was fast.” “Practice makes perfect. Now go to work.” “Alright, Alright.” “Logan?” “I have the later shift today, with the middle schoolers.” “I’m guessing you’re gonna come back uptight, venting about how stupid the kids were.” “I probably will. See you later.” Virgil finished his sandwich and was getting ready to go when he got a text from his boss, saying that there was a new kid today and he would have to show them the ropes. When he got to work, there was a man that looked a lot like Roman, but, goth-ish. He also wore green where Roman would wear red. “Hello, I’m Remus.” “I’m Virgil.” Remus shocked him while shaking his hand, “sorry I tend to do that.” “Just guessing here, but do you have a brother named Roman?” “Yes! How did you know?” “I’m his roommate. Anyways, you’re stocking shelves right?” “Yep, I told them to give me whatever they had.” “Welp, now I’ll have half the shifts, but that means half the pay too.” “Aw, Are you scared you can’t afford rent? Well sucks to be you I guess.” “You have no idea.” Virgil led him to the back and opened a door to the storage. “This is where all the stuff is, all the items are alphabetized and each letter is color coded. I had a friend give me advice on how to organize it, please don’t mess it up I worked really hard on it.” “I’ll try but things have a way of going wrong when I’m around.” “You are a very relatable person. Sometimes you might have to take a shift on the cash register. Do you know how to use it?” “Yep.” “Great, then we’re done here.” His ears were starting to cramp, he put up his hood and let them pop up. “You ok dude?” “Yeah I’m fine. Let’s just start the day.” He worked as he usually did, then went home and cooked dinner. When he was done, no one was home yet, so he ate alone and went to his room. He felt warm, he started getting really hot. He took off his sweater, but soon he felt even hotter. He closed the door and turned on the AC in his room. He felt better, but he knew what this meant. It was this once a year thing he went through, it’s a lot like touch starvation. It only lasts two weeks, but he usually just lets himself starve. Only Travis cared enough to help, but if they were caught Virgil would be beaten and Travis would be scolded. He locked the door and took off his shirt, while releasing his wings. He curled up on his bed and went to sleep, not caring enough to brush his teeth. When he woke up, someone was knocking on his door. “Virgil? You in there?” “Give me a sec Pat…” Virgil groggily got up and threw on a shirt, then opened the door. “Oh good, I was worried.” “Sorry ‘bout that, I was trying to cool off.” “From what? Is that why your room is so cold?” “In general and yes. Do you want me to make breakfast?” “Yeah..” “waffles?” “Please?” Virgil sighed and made waffles, with Patton’s rapt attention. “So how’d you sleep?” Patton asked, “bad, you?” “Okay, why aren’t you wearing your sweater?” “I just was too tired to put it on.” “So, what do you do when no one’s home?” “Sleep, watch tv, read” He said, in his mind he added, ‘write songs, do karaoke, draw, dance, make tracks on my laptop to go with the songs I write.’ “That’s it. Where is Logan and Roman?” “They’re grocery shopping.” “What time is it?” “3pm.” “Day?” “Monday. You feeling okay?” ‘No’ he thought to himself. “yeah I’m fine”, he said aloud. He gave Patton a plate of waffles and walked towards his room. “You’re not gonna eat kiddo?” “Na, I’m not hungry, I missed work, so I’m going back to sleep.” He closed the door, he didn’t lock it this time. He started to hear sounds from the street. He heard a woman, laughing at her friend who had fallen in a puddle. Her friend was yelling at her, his voice ringing in his ears. He put up his hood, but it wasn’t enough to not hear the car crash down the street. He put on the ear muffs he adjusted along with the hood. It was just enough to hear like he normally did. “Hey Virgil?” Roman and Logan had come home. “What?” “You okay?” “I’m fine, just tired.””Can we come in?” Virgil buried himself under the covers, “sure” he turned to face the door. Lucian, Logan, and Patton all came in with concerned looks on their faces. “What’d I do?” Virgil asked tiredly, “nothing wrong, we’re just worried.” Patton replied while sitting at the foot of the bed. Roman knelt next to Virgil’s face and stuck a thermometer in his mouth. “Are you feeling okay, il mio amore?” Virgil used his tongue to push the thermometer to one side of his mouth. “I’m fine.” He answered, the thermometer beeped and Roman took it out, when he looked at the tiny screen his eyes widened, “you’re not alright, you’re almost at 200o Fahrenheit! I’m calling you in sick for tomorrow.” “No, I‘m not sick it’s just to make up for certain things.” “What things?” “Blood loss, scaring, venting built-up electricity, cold nights. That’s about it.” “Amore, are you sure that’s it? This seems awfully high for just that.” Roman lovingly touch his shoulder, Virgil bit his lip to not do anything. “It is also touch starvation and loss of body heat. Correct?” Virgil whispered, looking away, “Correct” “oh, Virgil.” Patton scratched his ears until he purred himself to sleep. When he woke up, the AC was off and there was a wet cloth on his forehead. He was clutching the Toothless plushie and Roman was sitting next to him, petting him. “Good Afternoon il mio amore, did you sleep well?” “Yeah, Thanks.” Virgil replied sleeplily, he was still groggy but he knew that Patton and Logan were trying to make something. “What are they trying to make?” “How did you know?” “My hearing is much better than it used to be. Now could you answer my question..” “they’re trying to make something for you to eat. You feeling any better?” “Not really. A little bit.” “Don’t worry, I’ll go get you some medicine…” Roman left, Virgil started to feel himself heating up again. He hated this, if he wasn’t part Neko and part bird, he probably wouldn’t go through this every year. Or maybe it was his powers backlashing at him. No, the others probably had just as many, but they didn’t discover them yet. They didn’t have the experiences that he did, they didn’t come through necessity like his did. No, they are developing at a normal rate. Soon enough, every one of them would suffer through his strange condition. He hated that idea, that they would have to suffer like he is. But then at least he would know that they would accept him, and he could help them control it. Instead of them being self taught like himself. Roman finally came back, Virgil drank the medicine and Roman continued to pet him. Logan and Patton came in with the soup, Virgil could barely hold the bowl, but he drank it down. “Thanks guys. I needed this.” “Don’t worry about Virgil. It’s what friends are for.” Roman started to pet Virgil again, Virgil soon purred himself back to sleep. He dreamed about the first time he heated up like this, miss had faked pity and started petting his ears. She moved to his tail and got out the blade she had been hiding while Virgil was ‘distracted’. With one swift motion, she cut it off. Virgil moved away before she could go for his ears. He woke up, Roman looked worried. “Hey, it’s okay it was a dream. It was a dream.” Roman hugged him, Virgil felt himself go back to normal. He couldn’t help but smile, Roman probably should’ve been asleep. Yet here he was, helping Virgil get better. Roman left, Virgil didn’t feel his temperature rise. Roman came back with a thermometer and put it in Virgil’s mouth, after a few seconds it beeped and he removed it. Roman looked at it and seemed relieved, “you’re back to normal.” “That’s great Ro, you should get some sleep.” “I slept with you, I’m not tired.” Roman explained this right before yawning and starting to nod off. “Not tired eh? Come on…” Virgil pulled him into the bed and cuddled up to him. Roman fell asleep almost instantly, Virgil soon followed suit.


	5. Oh, BTW I have some secrets to tell you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just read the damn thing if you’re SO interested

In the morning, Patton woke them up, Roman went to his room to get ready for the day. Virgil cooked breakfast, Logan read as he did pretty much everything, and they were all out the door one by one. Everyone’s day went by normally and they came back as per usual. Virgil came first, then Roman a few minutes later. They started to kiss, they backed into a wall, still kissing, and Roman unzipped his sweater a bit. Virgil gently pushed him off, and zipped it back up. He sat on the coffee table and turned on the tv, Pokémon was on. He watched an episode, them came ‘who’s that Pokémon?’ He stood up and yelled, “IT’S PIKACHU!” It was Nivairæ, he yelled, “FUUUCK!” As he started to yeet the coffee table, but then the door started to open and he put it back down. It was Patton, “Are you guys okay? I heard yelling.” “Virgil was yelling at the tv again.” Said Roman as he came out of his room. He seemed uptight, “what happened?” Asked Patton and Virgil, “is it work?” They looked at each other, then Patton says, “what’s the matter Ro?” “I’ve been thinking, and I just don’t get how me, you, and Logan, have all of these elemental powers that have been growing and bringing new powers with them. But Virgil seems to only have sharp teeth, super hearing, portals and good reflexes.” “I don’t have super- Logan is limping down the street.” “Why is he limping?!” “You think I can hear why he’s limping! As if the universe talks to me and it tells me the answer to any question I have! Ha! I wish. Anyways…” Virgil went to the door and caught a very tired and injured Logan, who fainted. He started healing him immediately, “what’s coming out of your eyes?” Asked Roman, “Who cares?! It’s helping Logan!” After a short while, Logan was healed and woke up. “What? Ugh, I feel like I was mauled.” “Probably what happened, you need to rest.” “No, my parents are coming. They want to meet my roommates.” “I know, they’ll meet us. It’ll be okay, now go to sleep.” Logan dozed off and Virgil carried him to his room. “Now…. what were we talking about?” “Powers, and it seems you can heal people as well. Do you have any others that we don’t know about?” “I’ll let you try to guess after his parents leave.” The doorbell rang, Virgil put on his mask as Roman answered the door. There they stood, they looked around the room and the mom asked, “where is Logan?” “He’s resting” Virgil said quickly. “why?” Patton added, “When he came in he was limping and bleeding. Something probably mauled him on his way home.” The dad asked without concern in his voice, “Will he be alright?” Roman added, “Yeah, it wasn’t as serious as it could’ve been. He’s bandaged up and all.” The mom stated nonchalantly, “Well, at least he’s not too hurt. I’m Mrs. Zapata.” “I’m Mr. Zapata.” “Spanish?” “Yes. Now, do any of you know how to cook?” Virgil started, “I’ve been teaching the others.” Roman intervened,“He knows.” “What do you know to cook?” “Most of the recipes I know are from Britain, but I’ve learned some others.” “Why from Britain?” “I’m Brit, born and raised. I lost some of my accent a while back.” “Ah, well then… we have an appointment that we can not miss. Good day.” They left and Virgil locked the door as he said. “Ugh. Parents.” “They’re not all bad.” “Yeah, your parents. Maybe a few others. Otherwise, they just suck.” “He’s not wrong. But the majority of them are just trying their best.” Logan chimed in, Virgil looked him up and down, then said, “you knew I could do that, so you got yourself hurt to avoid your parents.” “Yes, I did not expect to nearly bleed out however.” “You were planning on catching the bus?” “Yes. Now you were talking about powers?” “Oh yeah… Oh! You said we’d try and guess!” “Yep, we already have healing, sharp teeth, hearing, and portals. Reflexes don’t count. They’re part of the cat thing.” “Well, how do you know the hearing is not a result of you cat ears?” “I’ve had these ears since I was four and my hearing didn’t start to improve until I came here.” “Oh! Fire!” “Correct.” Virgil set his nails on fire, but they didn’t actually burn. “Electricity like me.” “Right again.” Virgil charged his palm, then lost the charge after about thirty seconds. “I still have to work on that one.” “Are there any more?” “Five more.” “How?” “I’m a hybrid of two manimals. Turns out I got powers from both sides of the gene pool.” “What are the others?” “Earth, water, air, light, and dark.” The others were shaken, but Virgil watched them intently. “Wha- But, when?” “Since I was a kid, didn’t know how you’d react. Then I realized you had the same powers, you’ve been using them subconsciously, and your, additions haven’t grown in yet.” “By additions, I assume you mean your cat features?” “Yeah. I usually avoided the topic. Now am I making dinner or…?” “PIZZA!” “YAY PIZZA!” “Oh dear lord. You two are giving me a headache. Pizza it is then…” “Alright, I’ll order a meat lovers.” “Can we get pepperoni from Papa Johns instead of a meat lovers from Pizza Hut?” “Fine… at least it’s a pepperoni.” “Why do you like meat so much?” “It’s not just meat… carrots are nice too…” “Oh! I know! It’s ‘cause your teeth are so sharp! It makes it kinda hard to chew things that are normally easy to chew.” “They don’t make it hard, it just feels weird.” “Did your parents ever keep you away from soft foods?” “No…” “Well what did you normally eat?” “leftovers…” Virgil ordered the pepperoni pizza and hung up, he got the money ready and put it on the counter. “So you’d cook, they’d eat, and you’d get leftovers?!” Exclaimed Roman, looking a bit irritated. “Yeah, what’d you expect? After what I told you…” “Virgil, Why do you avoid your experiences?” “Logan is right. You need to talk to someone about these things.” “Does yourself count?” “No, Virgil…” “Virgil, Amore, you know you can come to us if you need something, right?” “Yeah.. I just have to get used to it.” The doorbell rang,Virgil put on his mask and answered it. The delivery guy gave him the pizza, he gave the guy the money, and a tip. He closed the door and put the pizza on the table. “Me first!” Patton yelled as he lunged for the pizza. Virgil gave a shrill, “Eep!” And flinched away from the table, so he wouldn’t get run over. “That might’ve been even cuter than your purr.” Roman commented while walking over to get a slice. “Oh shush you…” “he’s not wrong, but where’s the tiny table?” “I don’t think Papa Johns does the tiny tables.” “Aww, I like those…” “sorry Pat” “it’s fine, we’ll get Dominos next time!” They ate their pizza and as soon as they were done, Roman carried Virgil to the couch and Patton sat next to him, they started petting his ears. Virgil purred, letting his tail pop out. Patton played with it a bit, and started petting it. Virgil started to nod off, still purring, keeping the strange sounds and moans quiet, for the sake of embarrassment. He leaned against Roman, wrapping his tail around Roman’s waist. Roman kept stroking his ears and Virgil fell asleep in his arms, again. In a few hours, they were in their usual cuddle and he could hear Patton and Logan making out on the couch. Roman woke up and kissed Virgil’s ear, “morning Angelo Gotico. How did you sleep?” “I slept well, you?” “Amazing, because I got to cuddle with il mio amore.” Roman kissed Virgil’s other ear. “What does il mio amore mean?” “My love.” Virgil blushed, “c-can I call you amore, Ro?” “You can call me whatever you want Angelo..” “so I could call you Sir Sing-a-lot?” “I actually like that name!” “Too bad! I’m calling you Amore.” “Well I did say anything.” They both giggled for a minute, then Roman pointed out, “your giggle is as adorable as you.” Virgil giggled a bit more, “oh shush. Now you’re just saying things.” “It’s true! Your like a little angel kitten!” Virgil couldn’t help but giggle, he hugged Roman closer, “I love you.” “I love you too” Roman kissed his soft spot and cuddled closer. They both fell asleep soon after.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> Sorry, I sorta forgot to actually write things.
> 
> Blep.

In the morning, everything was normal, they went to work. Virgil came back first as per usual, he plopped onto the couch and was about to turn on the tv when heard what sounded like his brother. Except, he was limping and his breath seemed to hiss softly. He knocked on the door, Virgil opened it half way, to see Janus, but half of his face was covered in snake scales. His scaly side had a bruised eye and a scar going from the side of his mouth to just under his ear.  
“Janus?!”  
Virgil whispered in surprise,   
“th-they kicked me out. They shocked me and kicked me out I… I went to look for you. I didn’t- didn’t know what to do.”   
Janus started to break down, Virgil hugged him and brought him inside. Virgil led him to the couch then started to boil water for tea. In the meanwhile, He sat next to Janus and put his arm around him.   
“I-I started getting stronger and one day my face hurt really bad and I went to sleep. The next day, I wake up in the morning, and there it is. Next thing I know, I’m out the door with a bunch of scars on my face from dad and a wad of cash from mom.”  
“How long ago?”   
“A week…”   
“did you notice anything else weird?”  
“I would wake up in a little tent made of leaves even though I was sleeping under a tree or in a field.”   
“It’s okay, I’m gonna help you through this.”   
“What is happening?”   
“You’re like me and the others, what mom and dad would call a demon.”   
“What others?”  
“I have… roommates, they're like us, but their… animal features… haven’t grown in yet.”  
“What are yours? Other than the wings.”   
Virgil let his ears pop out of his hair and let his tail slither out from its hiding spot.   
“Woah, how long?”   
“A few, years. I was scared of how you’d react.”   
“They’re so fluffy…”   
Janus started to stroke Virgil’s ears, Virgil purred at the contact.  
“Aww”   
“shush… you…”   
he whispered out between purrs. Roman came in,   
“I’m going to assume this is a coworker or Janus.”   
“You talk about me?”   
“Sometimes.”   
“He doesn’t talk about his life that much.”  
“Which roommate are you?”   
“We are official, you need to stop calling me your roommate. I’m Roman, his boyfriend.”   
Roman stated this with finesse as he kissed Virgil’s ear and started to stroke him. Virgil leaned into it while purring, looking almost blissful. Janus observed the scene, he had a sort of sad expression on his face as if he wanted this type of love as well. Remus peeked out of the doorway,   
“is it safe to come in bro? Woah, what happened to you? Are you alright?”   
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking, I’m guessing you two are brothers?”  
“Yep.”  
Roman and Remus answered simultaneously, then looked at each other.   
“Remus is younger by about a year.”   
“Huh, same with Janus.”   
They gave each other a look,   
“can I talk to you in private?”  
“Sure.”  
The couple left the two alone and went to Virgil’s room, Virgil’s two journals were on the bed. He went to put them away, but Roman snatched them up and started flipping through one of them.  
“Ooo, what’s this? This is amazing! You’re really good at drawing ya know.”   
“That’s private!”   
Virgil tried to snatch it back, but Roman held it up and Virgil couldn’t reach it.   
“You’re almost as short as a midget, how do you lift things so easily?”  
“Like this.”   
Virgil lifted Roman and threw him up into the air, then caught him.  
“See? Easy!”   
“Anything you do would be easy for you. You’re practically perfect.”   
Virgil was surprised at the comment and nearly dropped Roman. He put him down and took back his journals. Once he put them away, he sat on his bed facing away from Roman.   
“Are you mad at me?”   
Virgil said nothing,   
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”   
Roman wrapped his arms around Virgil’s waist, and put his chin on Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil turned his face away from Roman’s, trying to hide the blush on his face.   
“Please, sweetie… talk to me?”   
“Promise it won’t happen again?”   
“Promise.”   
“Fine, I forgive you. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”   
“Alright.”   
Roman kissed Virgil’s neck, Virgil gave a small purr. Roman kept going, soon enough they were laying down, kissing, Virgil’s sweater was on the floor and his shirt was half-way off. The door opened, Janus was staring at the scene with his eyes wide open.   
“Am I interrupting something?”  
“Maybe...”   
the other two drew out awkwardly.  
“I’ll leave you to it.” Janus walked away and closed the door. Virgil and Roman looked at each other, and started laughing. They calmed down soon enough, Roman was the first to speak,   
“well that happened.”   
“Yeah, no shit Sherlock! Oh my- did you see his face?!”   
“That was hilarious. I’m glad that I got to meet your brother, he seems really nice.”   
“He is. I kinda feel bad for him though, mom and dad never really do anything other than let him have what he wants. Now all that got taken away, because he looked weird. I honestly don’t get their logic sometimes.”   
“Who’s?”   
“My owners’, first 19 or so years of his life, you give him what he wants, you give him education, you teach him how to do things he’ll need to do later. As soon as he’s not a regular person, you beat him up and kick him out of your house. It makes no sense!”  
“Even though me and Remus are basically the same, I had to do everything perfectly and Remus can do whatever he wants. It wasn’t fair. I was bad at some things that I really liked to do. They made me quit because they couldn’t bother teaching me how to do it better. But if Remus found something he enjoyed and wasn’t good at it, they would teach everything they know about it. Plus, we were basically into all of the same things! Zero! Sense!”   
“Thank you! Parents man, sometimes they’re just being asses because it’s easier.”   
“Right?.”  
“How did we get to this point in our conversation?”   
“I don’t even know what we were talking about before. Don’t ask me.”  
“By the way, I was wondering if you were ticklish?”  
“Not that I know of. Why?”   
“Because Patton wants to have a tickle test later and you always skipped out on those.”  
“Yeah, I’d get scared and chicken out.”   
“Remember that time we had to get you off the refrigerator?”  
“Oh man, I still don’t know how I get up there.”  
“I don’t know either, one of life’s many mysteries.”   
“Oof to that.”   
They giggled for a few seconds and Roman got up, and started to walk out of the room. When he opened the door, a bucket of water fell on his head and ruined yet another good hair day.   
“REMUS! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU DON’T GET YOUR SORRY ASS BACK OVER HERE, RIGHT NOW!”  
“Damn, he's dead.”   
Remus snickered in the bathroom, Roman followed the sound and bashed Remus over the head with the bucket. Virgil put his shirt on properly, got his phone and ran to the bathroom. Janus was watching open mouthed from the couch.  
“Did I miss anything?”   
“You missed everything.”  
“Shoot, I wanted to get a picture.”   
“Of what?”   
Roman walked out of the bathroom, his wet shirt clinging to him, revealing his six-pack. Virgil took a picture as he simply stated,  
“that.”  
“Give me your phone.”  
“Never.”   
Virgil ran to his room and closed the door. He was about to lock it when Roman burst through and grabbed him.  
“Give. Me. The phone!”  
“No! My photo! My phone! My rules!”   
Virgil elbowed Roman, pried his hands off him and judo-flipped him onto the floor.  
“Surrender!”   
“Never!”  
Roman tried to get up but Virgil kept him floored, finally he said,   
“I surrender.”  
“Phew.”   
Virgil let go, flopping onto the bed and started flipping through tumblr on his phone.   
“You just pinned me to the ground and you’re not even mildly breathless?”  
“Eh.”  
Roman gave him an exasperated look then tried to bear hug him. Virgil screeched and hissed at him,  
“no! No water! Bad! Very bad!”  
“Ya know, sometimes I forget how catty you are.”   
Roman left the room and dried himself off, changing his clothes. While he did that, Virgil found something particularly funny and laughed almost sweetly until he was about to cry.  
“Aww. Is everything about you adorable?”   
Roman said, hearing his adorable little laugh.   
“Oh shush!”   
Virgil scolded with a small giggle.   
“Hey bro, is it okay if Janus stays at my house?”   
“You’ll have to ask Janus and Virgil.”   
“I mean, we don’t really have that much space. I guess it’s fine if he agrees with it.”   
“He did. Bye!”   
Remus walked out with Janus in tow.   
“Bye?”  
Roman and Virgil questioned together.


End file.
